The Data-Driven Growth Blueprint
Tom Long
Helps credit unions to improve market share and earnings
The currency of business today is member and market intelligence. Enriching data creates sustained advantages and provides a gateway to balance sheet and earnings expansion. Learn how data-driven knowledge will allow your credit union to improve member retention, acquire a personalized view of members and prospects with purchase intent, and connect physical and digital addresses to target with precision. This collaborative presentation will share the blueprint and results.
Listen to Tom explain how data-driven knowledge can help your credit union.
Interview transcript available below. Don't see the play button? Download the audio file.
More about Tom
Thomas J. Long, Jr., founder and principal of The Long Group, has more than 25 years experience in research, strategic planning, product management and development, and marketing. Tom assists credit unions in building brand identity, managing service quality, segmenting markets, evaluating distribution channels and conducting product feasibility analysis.
You can find him on LinkedIn.
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Anthony Demangone: Hello everybody, this is Anthony with NAFCU. I’m here with Tom Long. He is going to be presenting at NAFCU’s Strategic Growth Conference in March. Tom is the founder of the Long Group. He’s been working with organizations over the past 30 years. He helps credit unions with their brand identity, managing service, making it higher quality and then segmenting their markets, among other things. Tom, welcome and thanks for your time today.
Tom Long: Thank you, Anthony.
AD: So you’re going to be talking about data-driven knowledge. And I know you’re going to be talking with Bernie, a CEO of a credit union. Why is this such a top of the mind-matter today in the credit union industry?
TL: I think that generally speaking that margin compression has become the new norm in the industry. And replacing lost revenue through compression has placed growing pressure on new account opening volume. And so, finding ways to work smarter rather than harder have become pressing priorities industry-wide.
AD: Excellent. In this presentation, what is one idea or question that attendees will be able to take back to their teams and implement at their own credit union?
TL: I think the presentation itself is really going to focus on the simple notion of how each credit union will be able to learn something by simply using the name and address of a member or a prospect so that they can compete with a competitive advantage. If a credit union wants to know what they need to do to become more successful, the most important leverage point in today’s data-driven world is simply the name and address and we’re going to show them how to leverage that to gain more insight about the members and the market in which they compete for business.
AD: As you’re talking and working with credit unions, I’m sure you’ve come across some interesting stories or facts. What’s one that stands out for you that really underscores the importance of data-driven growth and the things that you can accomplish?
TL: That’s a great question. I think that generally speaking, data-driven growth can really help a credit union in probably at least three different ways. One is the acquisition of new members. Another is the ability to create a retention advantage with your existing membership. And of course to grow more substantial relationships with those members over time.
And so, one of the things that we’ll be able to talk about and to illustrate is how financial institutions simply by using a good name and address and getting some member and market intelligence have been able to pick up full percentage points in terms of household penetration in the markets in which they compete for business will also illustrate how other institutions have been able to reduce their attrition rates substantially, essentially cutting it in half. And if in fact, we need to replace this business, it changes the growth trajectory enormously.
And the last is, of course, building a more substantial relationship with members, the gateway to changing that member relationship from a transactional purchase to one that is sustaining long-term benefits as their primary financial institution. And so we’re going to talk a little bit about some real-life stories about how other institutions have been able to carve out success in each of the three ways that they can manufacture growth.
AD: Yeah, I love that. Not only gaining market share but stopping attrition. That’s working smarter. I really like that.
And finally, Tom, any final thoughts?
TL: I think that the presentation is really going to focus on action. It’s going to illustrate what it is that you need to do at your credit union to see success. And as we just spoke, we’re also going to share results so you can get a sense of what you can expect to see in return once you implement those actions. I look forward to meeting other individuals at the conference and sharing the story of success and hopefully empowering them to do the same.
AD: Fantastic, Tom. Ladies and gentlemen, he’ll be at the Strategic Growth Conference, March 2-4 in San Antonio. Here at NAFCU, we’re going to gather the best and brightest to help credit unions grow. Tom, thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you there.
TL: Thank you, Anthony.